


This Is My Thin House

by frankiesin



Series: ISHTET [1]
Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, Halsey (Musician), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Writing & Publishing, Deaf Character, Deaf Mikey Way, Gen, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 03:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8733568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: Ashley Frangipane, a young editor and DJ, gets to go on her first real business trip to work with a client. Or: a preview of the AU I'm working on.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hello, I'm writing yet another AU. This one involves Mikey Way, Dallon Weekes, an online publishing company, and a bunch of budding relationships! Yay!
> 
> I told myself I wouldn't write for this AU until I finished the ones I'm currently working on but that didn't happen, so have a little set of vignettes involving one Ashley Frangipane. (And Mikey Way)

**Ocean City, New Jersey.**

 

The dark blue Honda Accord drove around the curve of Ashley’s street and pulled up against the curb, successfully blocking her next door neighbour’s driveway. Ashley sighed from where she was sitting, perched in the window of her first floor apartment. Her roommates, two guys named Josh and Tyler, had the apartment on the second floor, and they all shared the basement and garage area. 

 

Ashley got up and grabbed a shirt from her mattress. She didn’t have to leave for work until nine that evening, so she hadn’t put on a bra all day. She wasn’t going to do so now. Mikey had seen her in less before. She’d also seen him in clothes that hadn’t seen a washing machine for weeks, so it wasn’t like either of them had high standards for each other. Ashley was just curious as to why he hadn’t mentioned that he’d be driving down today. Mikey was one of her bosses, but he lived all the way in SoHo, and didn’t drive down to check in on Ashley unless something important had happened. 

 

She pressed the button to open the garage door and headed down to the basement. 

 

The basement was an interesting place. Josh and Tyler claimed to be in some kind of weird band, but she’d never seen them practice before. Their stuff was set up in the back room of the basement, though. The front was for Ashley’s car, since she kept different hours from Josh and Tyler and was on the first floor of the house. There was a lot of random stuff that had never been used in that basement, including one of Frank’s old guitars from when he’d been in a band in college. 

 

The garage door was open, and Mikey was standing in the winter sunlight that poured through. He was just an outline of a man, a black silhouette against the blinding white outdoors. Ashley padded over so that he could see her better, and started signing. “ _ What’s going on? You didn’t tell me you were coming down? _ ”

 

“ _ I have my hearing aids in, _ ” Mikey signed back, while saying it at the same time. He wasn’t completely deaf, just hard of hearing, but he and Ashley had gotten used to communicating in ASL over the past two and a half years. “ _ And I’m sorry I didn’t message you earlier. A lot of stuff is happening at once, and I thought Dallon might have emailed you first _ .”

 

“ _ Why would Dallon be emailing me? _ ” Ashley asked, and then tilted her head towards the stairs leading up to her apartment. The two of them returned back to the heated main floor and sat down on the rug in Ashley’s living room. 

 

Dallon and Mikey ran an online publishing company together, even though the two of them lived on opposite sides of the country. Dallon was out in Utah with their two children, and Mikey was in New York. There was a lot of online communication, and a few plane trips, but Ashley rarely worked under Dallon. She lived on the east coast, and so if either of her bosses had questions about her editing work, it was usually Mikey who addressed them. 

 

“ _ You remember Pete Wentz, right? _ ” Mikey signed. “ _ He was the one who published an entire novel back in 2012. He apparently wants to turn it into an indie film, but he wants his editors there for the process. Since we know the story, apparently. _ ”

 

“ _ That’s not normal, _ ” Ashley frowned. “ _ Why does he need us there? I know I helped him get his book together, but it’s not like I wrote it or anything. _ ”

 

“ _ I know, but he’s been communicating with Dallon, and apparently he’s one of the high class, eccentric types, _ ” Mikey said. “ _ Dallon would go with you, except they’ve got their kids for the winter and they have to figure out travelling arrangements. So, since we’re both on the east coast and you know Mr. Wentz better than I do, we’re going to be flying out to Chicago in about a week. _ ”

 

“ _ How long are we going to be there? _ ” Ashley asked. Mikey signed back, saying that it would be for ten days--assuming everything on Pete Wentz’s end went well--and then he and Ashley would be returning to New York and return to business as usual. Not that business was ever usual, at least for Ashley, but she knew what Mikey meant. The two of them hashed out the details: what flight to book, what kind of attire, who’d be getting them from the Chicago airport to Mr. Wentz’s house, and anything else that they thought might be necessary. By the time she and Mikey were done, it was almost seven and Ashley hadn’t eaten yet. 

 

“ _ You wanna grab dinner on your way out? _ ” She offered. 

 

Mikey frowned. “ _ I should probably be getting back. My dad’s been having some health issues, and G and my mom are worried. I don’t want them to be worried about me and my dad, you know? _ ”

 

“ _ I get that, _ ” Ashley signed, and nodded. “ _ Have a safe drive, then. Email me with the flight details when you get back tonight. I’ll make sure to request time off from Haven for those days. _ ”

 

* * *

 

“What about that one?” Josh asked Ashley. The two of them were sitting by the window at the OC Surf Cafe, eating omelets for brunch and enjoying a mutual day off. 

 

Ashley squinted out into the sunlight, watching the girl that Josh had pointed out for her. Josh was straight, unfortunately, and Ashley was bisexual and single. Josh, of course, was trying to be a good housemate and get her a date. His gaydar was lacking, though, even though he thought he was good at finding her suitable girlfriends. She shook her head. “Nah, not really my type.”

 

“What exactly is your type, then?” Josh rolled his eyes.

 

“Uh, not straight?” Ashley said. “Look, man, it’s great that you’re not a homophobic dick and that you’re trying to get me a date, but you’re really bad at guessing if a girl’s into girls or not.”

 

“How can you tell, then, Miss Gaydar?” Josh asked. He pointed his fork at her, and she leaned forward and stole his bite of omelet off of it. It was his fault for not knowing better by now. Josh retracted his fork. “Is it like a gays only thing? You just know when there’s someone else in the vicinity?”

 

“Pretty much, yeah,” Ashley said, and then the doorbell jingled and three people walked in. They looked like the punk rock versions of surfers who started coming in around May or June, except it was the end of November so there was no reason for them to be here. There were two people with short hair, and one with long hair that had been shaved on the sides. Ashley wasn’t about to guess their genders, but if the long haired one was a girl as Ashley hoped, then Ashley was really, really bisexual for her. 

 

Josh turned around in his seat to see who Ashley was staring at, and then turned back around with a grin on his face. “Okay, so my gaydar is probably still shit, but even I can tell that that girl isn’t straight. And you think she’s hot.”

 

“Shush, Josh,” Ashley said, swatting at his face. “I’m trying to figure out what people like them are doing here in the winter.”

 

“They do look like surfers,” Josh agreed. Ashley flipped him off and turned her attention to the three newcomers. They were lead to a table away from her and Josh, and there was no way for Ashley to look at the three of them without being creepy, so she turned her attention back to Josh, and that was that. 

 

She sighed and took a bite of omelet. “By the way, I’m flying out to Chicago in two days.”

 

“Thanks for letting me know,” Josh said, and sipped from his coffee. “Also, why? I thought your other writing boss lived in Utah?”

 

“They do,” Ashley said. “But I’m not flying out to meet with Dallon or anything. Mikey and I are going to see a client that I’ve been editing for since, like, the very beginning. Apparently this guy wants to turn his novel into a movie and he needs the approval of his editors or something. Even Mikey’s a little confused by it all.”

 

“Well, have fun in Chicago,” Josh said. “I’ll text you if I see your girl crush again.”

 

“Fuck off,” Ashley said, while rolling her eyes. It was her and Josh’s way of saying thank you, without having to really say it.

 

* * *

 

Ashley always waited until the last minute to pack for anything. She was alway sure that something would change, and then she’d have to unpack and repack again. She’d been up to New York a few times before, and had even spent the night at Mikey’s sister’s house, but she’d never been on a business trip before. She was a little nervous. 

 

She wondered how her parents would react if they knew where their daughter was now. Ashley had left home a few months before her seventeenth birthday because she wanted to get into music and her parents wouldn’t support her. Now, she was twenty, living in an actual house (kind of), and trying to figure out if it was appropriate to wear a business suit on an airplane or if it would be better to change into it once she got to Chicago. 

 

She ended up sending an email to Mikey about it, because this was what he was used to, and he’d probably have an answer. 

 

_ Mikey: _

_ I’m trying to pack last minute (whoops) and I can’t decide if I should pack my good suit and change in Chicago, or wear it on the plane tomorrow. What would you/Dallon do? _

_ -Ash Frangipane _

 

_ Ashley: _

_ Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve been doing this for maybe a year longer than you.  _

_ I’m wearing my suit on the plane, though. In case we lose our luggage or something. I don’t want to show up at Pete Wentz’s place in plane clothes. I don’t think that would be too professional.  _

_ -Mikey Way _

 

Ashley sighed, knowing that would be the best response she could get from Mikey, and took her suit out from her bag. She refolded it and laid it out on her couch, along with her shoes. She’d pack her change of shoes into her purse and just wear ankle boots through the airport. Heels were a pain in the ass, and she’d go barefoot if she could. 

 

She closed her suitcase and headed to bed, putting her phone on to charge and double-checking that her alarm was set for the next morning. She was not going to miss that flight, because that would just be embarrassing for everyone involved. 

 

“Last night in the house,” she whispered into the empty air. “Hopefully Josh and Tyler won’t wreck it while I’m gone.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!
> 
> Also, because I can, I'm making this AU a little bit interactive! I've made a blog (ishtetpublishing.tumblr.com) for it, and if you want, you can ask characters (or me) questions! ((PS I've never done anything like this before so who knows how it will go))


End file.
